Need to edit your Google Docs? In the past if you didn’t have access to the internet you were stuck, now you can edit those documents while offline.

On the second day of the Google I/O conference Google officials revealed that Google Docs offline editing is now available through the company’s cloud storage service known as Google Drive.

To demonstrate the technology Clay Bevor, director of product management for Google Apps accessed one of his Google Docs from his Windows desktop with the help of Google Drive, however the company also revealed that other devices can be used including gadgets that feature the iOS platform and Google Chrome.

The new offline feature is already available and could come in handy for travelers who may not always have internet access, for example while traveling aboard some aircraft that have yet to be outfitted with internet access.

The announcement is yet another big win for Google after the company wowed developers and fans on Wednesday when they showed off the Nexus Cube, Google Project Glasses and a Google Nexus Tablet that some critics are already calling an Amazon Kindle Fire competitor (killer?).

The Google I/O conference is held annually in California and aims at debut new technologies and forecasting the potential for other offerings from the Mountain View, California-based tech firm.

If you own an Apple based device you can download the Google Drive application for free directly from the Apple App Store.

Will you be editing Google Docs in offline mode?

Google Docs Now Offering Offline Editing Via Google Drive is a post from: The Inquisitr

This is like every single computer conversation I have with my cousins.

[via]

Kids These Days, Technology Edition is a post from: The Inquisitr

There is an automatic assumption that when you see a link with the google.com domain in the address that you are dealing with a safe and secure site but according to a report from security researchers at F-Secure you might want to reconsider that preception.

They have found that nestled quite comfortably at Google Docs a number of phishing sites that are extremely well done to the point that they are still unsure about one of the sites that they have found.

The problem with this is that by inserting themselves on Google Docs these phishing sites are able to by-pass your browsers normal ability to detect, and protect you, from these nasties. This is because the Google domains provide a valid SSL (secure sockets layer) certificate which the browser uses to be able to tell, and notify us, that you are on a secure site.

While researching the many examples of Docs-hosted phishing sites, the F-Secure researchers came across this form (see below), which asks for your Google Voice number, email address and the secret PIN code on your account. It appears to be a phishing site, but oddly, at least one Google employee was found to have linked to the form on online Help forums.

This stumped the researchers, who then turned to Twitter to ask their followers what they thought.Tweets Mikko H. Hypponen, F-Secure’s CRO:

“The consensus on Twitter seems to be that the weird page on google.com is a phishing site. The jury’s still out though.”

Writes one commenter on the original blog post: “I must say kudos to Google for anonymizing so well the form, there’s no way to tell who made it.” Uh-oh, Google.

via ReadWriteWeb

Uh-oh is right.

Phishing sites found to be hanging out on Google Docs is a post from: The Inquisitr

Google has taken a small step for online document sharing, but a giant leap for people who like to share with the introduction of shared folders in Google Docs.

The feature, as the name suggests, will allow users to share folders with other users on Google Docs. The shared folders mean that documents will no longer have to be manually shared, with users able to set up shared folders for collaborative, ongoing sharing.

Folders can be shared on an edit or view only access, giving a level of control currently available through single document sharing.

Google has also announced support for uploading multiple files, which it pitches as “simplifying the process of transferring documents from your desktop to the cloud.”

Access to the features should be available to all Google Docs users by the end of October 12 US time.

Google Docs gets shared folders, multiple item uploads is a post from: The Inquisitr

Microsoft is finally putting useless and cumbersome Microsoft Works out of its misery. In other news, Microsoft was still making Microsoft Works.

In lieu of a frustrating and pointless version of Works, PC users can look forward to a stripped-down and ad-supported Office Starter 2010. The suite will include Word and Excel, dropping PowerPoint and OneNote for users who haven’t upgraded to the pay version. All the necessary bits for Home & Student, Home & Business or Professional versions will be installed with Office Starter, and can be unlocked with the purchase of a “key” or an activation card in electronics stores.

Takeshi Numoto, corporate VP for Office, declined to disclose whether Office Starter users would receive pricing incentives to shell out for pay versions of the software. Numoto feels that the new purchase options will reach new users who may have never been in front of a computer used Microsoft Office:

“This is a way for us to reach a lot of customers that we haven’t reached before,” Numoto said, explaining Microsoft’s strategy behind Office Starter, Click-To-Run and the new card-based licenses to be sold at retail. “This will get people a taste for Office, people who may not have been exposed to Office before.”

Scanning over the quotes from Microsoft execs just makes highlights the fact that so much functionality is available in open source versions of similar software. Google Docs and OpenOffice have some limitations-mainly when working with someone using MS Office-but deliberate reduced functionality and high cost aren’t among them. Aside from necessary collaboration with Office users, do you have any compelling reasons to keep paying for it?

Microsoft kills Works in favor of ad-supported Office, OpenOffice and Google Docs still free is a post from: The Inquisitr

Online office platform provider Zoho has released Zoho Writer 2.0, with a makeover that makes it more Microsoft Word like.

The new interface includes was Zoho calls the “MenuTab.” The MenuTab interface categorizes features as tabs based on functionality, include Format, Insert, Review and more. The tabs are used as Menus, quite purposely in a way reminiscent of the Ribbon bar in Microsoft Word 2007.

The sidebar has also had a makeover, with the ability to multi-select documents and perform actions.

The aim of the game in online office packages has always been appealing to existing software users to switch across, and delivering interfaces that are familiar is key to that. A decent upgrade for what was already a smart service.

More details on the Zoho blog here.

Zoho Writer refresh delivers a more Microsoft Word like experience is a post from: The Inquisitr

At some point there was one thing that really started to get on my nerves. Google stuff began to remind me of the pablum I feed my two girls when they were babies. It does the job but damn its boring shit. Really .. just how much of that pale pastel blue crap can one person stomach in a day. Jeez give me break already.

Here we have machine that literally dwarf the mega machines that powered the Apollo Moon program and the best we can come up with for style is some utilitarian blandness to wrap our applications or web apps in – come on already. I’ve seen mortuaries with more friggin life in them than these Google offering and why should we be settling for this utilitarian sameness? Have we lost that interest in having the things we use on a daily basis that we don’t care if they look boring as hell?

Personally I am so sick and tired of that color blue that it wants to make me puke every time I see it. I told my wife when she gets around to redecorating that picking that colour would be grounds for divorce. So without the slightest bit of reluctance I have returned to my previous selection of programs I used even thought they might be a little heavier on resources it’s worth it to have some life back in my desktop.

The other thing that really makes me laugh is that Google apps are so popular among the Mac crowd. This is the bunch with deep roots in the artistic and style community and yet this idea of blandness is so acceptable to them. Talk about a total dichotomy.

Oh and by the way labels in Gmail isn’t all the snitz that the Gmail fanbois make them out to be.

Google makes me want to gag is a post from: The Inquisitr

Users can now upload, view, and share PDF files within the program — something that had not previously been available. While you can copy and paste text, there is not any option to edit the files.

Google does, however, make use of the word “yet” in reference to an editing option, which might suggest that it will be added before long.

Google Docs Get PDF Support is a post from: The Inquisitr